I have a problem with this upcoming The Incredible Hulk film. Mine is a serious beef to grind, assuming a man is allowed the freedom to mix his metaphors; a burning festering irrational hatred that is probably unfounded in its audacity, but one that nevertheless files my throat with thick, viscous bile.
To summarize, I already saw a Hulk movie a few years ago. It was directed by Ang Lee, and it was awesome.
Okay, yes: people were extremely divided on this particular film, with most people wanting to divide it with an axe. It was an unusual film to say the least; a mature, adult-themed adaptation of a big green comic book hero, with heavy play given to pathos, cathartic demons of the soul, to Hemmingway-esque struggles between father and son, to repressed childhood trauma—not exactly the stuff of cross-promotion marketing and children’s toys.
Fans expecting to see a smash-em-up action adventure were mollified by the film’s somber, introspective take on the superhero genre, its long running time, and its total absence of anything that resembled large-scale Hulk Smashing. The film plummeted in the box office due to bad word-of-mouth, and Targets everywhere started sticking tiny red tags on all its Hulk-related merchandise, of which it had devoted two-thirds of its total retail floor space to. Ouch.
Valid beefs, all. I admit, the nay-sayers have a point. And that whole sequence with the dogs totally sucked. A lot of people felt let down by Hulk, and I respect that. But I cannot help but feel this new film, simply in existing, insults my intelligence in a dire and alarming fashion, one far more damaging than any nitpicking problems with the previous film.
Tossing out another Hulk film a scant five years later—not a sequel, mind you, but a “franchise reboot”—trying to erase it from the face of the earth radiates pure greed. For all its flaws, the most egregious failure of Hulk was its failure to make buttloads of money and sell lunch boxes, Burger King cups and plastic toys, and as a cinema fan, I could care less about this. I am more interested in a film that engages my attention, one that makes me want to discuss and debate its merits and flaws endlessly with anyone in earshot, and Hulk did that for me in spades. For once, a superhero movie actually refused to dumb down its subject and content to appease the endless parade of marketing opportunities. To me, The Incredible Hulk represents the unpleasant side of Hollywood, the kind that wants to take away all my money and give me nothing back in return.
Perhaps some executive in Hollywood actually feels passionate about the Hulk franchise, and really lobbied hard to tell the story “right”. Who knows? Perhaps in a warehouse in New Jersey somewhere, they have thousands and thousands of crappy Hulk toys that didn’t get sold. For whatever reason, now we have Hulk Take Two; a film that hopes with all its might to erase the terrible taste in your mouth left from the last Hulk film by pretending that it never even existed in the first place, like some bizarre Orwellian head trick. And by the look of the trailer, they are very keen to show you all kinds of Hulk Smashing, as if to reassure the masses that things will somehow be better this time. Honest.
You guys can have your new crappy superhero movie with no brain cells and Burger King action figures. Me, I’m happy with Hulk. It was, for all its pitfalls, an attempt to make a sophisticated superhero film (a contradiction if there ever was one), and for a director as acclaimed and world-renowned as Ang Lee to even dabble in the genre of comic book adaptations at all, well; ‘tis is a fortuitous thing indeed. Flawed, sure; but I’ll take a flawed film any day over yet another mindless popcorn superhero film that kills my brain cells.
20 comments ↓
AMEN, brother!!! Anyone with an I.Q. over 100 loved “HULK.” It was deep and meaningful, not “look-what-i-can-do… weeeee!” I particularly enjoyed the split screen storytelling style which seemed perfect for the genre. Hated the dogs, but you can’t have it all. Jar-Jar is still worse.
They didn’t make a new Hulk movie to recover from the last one sucking or telling the story “right.” The reason they made this Incredible Hulk movie is Marvel made their own movie studios and since Universal made the last one they had copyright problems. Anyways, Marvel is planning to release an Avengers movie in like 2011. That is the reason they released Ironman, and now the Incredible Hulk. They are going to being out another Ironman movie and a Captain America movie. Through these movies it is all going to build up to the Avengers movie. I enjoyed the Incredible Hulk much more than I did Hulk. It’s not a cover up for the first one. Just a stepping stone to make another movie. More of a puzzle peice.
Im am glad to see an article like this simply because i loved HULK. And i hate that it was butchered so. A comic adaption with character development? Get the f__k out of here! Props to you and I am happy that others feel the same.
I’m happy to see that I’m not alone on this one. Hulk was an excellent movie; one of my favorite marvel films. I just think that it was misunderstood. The Incredible Hulk was a good film, but I never felt sorry for the character, and never felt his lonliness or desperation. I didn’t feel his anger and frustration. Ang Lee did the job right. They should’ve simply done a sequel.
As I saw the Hulk for the first time I was impressed. I couldn’t understand why they hated the movie, they said e.g. ” the beginning was so boring bla bla” from kids who watch usually bud spencer.The movie was well rounded for me (introduction, main part and ending) and of course the great visuals. After I saw the incredible Hulk the only thing I can say is nothing-.-I watched it and on the next day i could not remember anymore what was happening in the movie. It was just a movie of many others which dont remain in your memory.
This was a horrible article. Sounds like some kind of movie conspiracy theorist who is worried about hollywood tricking us into forgetting the HULK movie. Who cares so they made another one. One too boot’s comment is spot on.
I LOVED the Ang Lee HULK movie and am happy that there are others who did too. The film was a work of art, the cinematography was excellent, the acting was believeable, the psychological aspect was thought provoking and Nick Nolte was at his best (insane). I’ve watched it over and over and love how Ang reuses images from Banner’s youth to calm the Hulk (like the cactus that people complain about). For those who paid attention, this film will make a much more lasting impression than its popcorn flick predecessor.
I must admit that the Hulk is not one of my favourite superheroes. But sitting here and both are showing simultaneously on two different television channels got me wondering about comparisons between the two.
Hulk (H)- definately had a deeper more emotional story “The Incredible Hulk” (tIH)
I think that tIH had better special effects. though both films still had their hulks looking “fake”…. though I must say the animation of tIH reminded me more of Resident Evil or Quake…
The tie in to the other marvel franchises will definateley be better though with tIH… looking forward to seeing what happens when they bring Hulk, Spidey and Iron Man together….
in H, though the dogs looked stupid… it did ties in with the story line of the demented scientist father who continued to experiment and felt spurned by his son so set the dogs on him…etc etc.
In tIH…some continuity issues come into play
continued…
Continuity issues like…hell what was the whole dialysis thing about ??? wasn’t he supposed to be “cured”…. and so then just jump out the helicopter and hope he transforms back huh???.. and then in the end what happens with Abomination? He’s knocked out by the Hulk and then…. just left there??
I understand now that Marvel were trying to stamp control of their “franchise”…. when I watched tIH… I was abit confused?? thought ..hey were are all the original actors? but now it makes sense.
I must agree that the better story was “Hulk” … but it definately was not true to the original story line… and I must admit I hate it when people mess up the story line. Look what those idiots did to Highlander with “Highlander 2″…. totally off the plot… what the hell… anyway….
my 2p
In “HULK” we saw the REAL Hulk. In “The Incredible Hulk” we saw what the kids wanted to see, not the real hulk. In “HULK” he was angry the way he was supposed to be angry, he was lonely the way he was supposed to be lonely. The whole thing was the REAL HULK. In “The Incredible Hulk” we didnt see what the hulk actually is cuz he didnt act like Hulk. If the kids see the character Hulk for the first time in “The Incredible Hulk”, they’ll have the wrong idea about the character. And i dont know why people are saying that the “HULK” didnt look real. He looked so much real. You couldnt even say that its an animation.
Look the thing is that the hulk 2003 was the comic book hulk who grew larger when he got angrier and is the strongest superhero in the marvel universe on earth . The 2008 inc hulk was a adaptation of the popular 1970s tv show of the hulk where at the end of every episode you see him walking down the dust empty road hitch hicking and who seem’s to have trouble lifting up 1 single little tank 2 different films altogether . I preferd the 2003 hulk btw
It’s a relief to know that there’s audience of fans who have a standard of regard for The Hulk. I totally enjoyed Ang Lee’s interpretation of the hero and as well the other enigmatically scenes within the film. The Incr.Hulk was a joke! If there’s a possibility to work something out with Universal studio’s ??????? please put Mr. Lee at the helm. URRRRRRRRR!
i thought i was the only one who really emjoyed the 03 Hulk. i’m so glad to see that other people appreciate the beauty of the 03 Hulk the same as i do. story was so in-depth, acting was perfect and it was so real. it looked more real that the 08 Hulk which had been hollywoodised to death (like spiderman 3). Hulk 03 is like spiderman 2. mis-understood, when actually its theyre the two best superhero movies ever because they’re BELIEVABLE. okay i admit the jumping is a bit far fetched, you’d have to have a thrust of about a ton per sqare inch to shuv the 20 ft hulk that far, but the rest was so beautifully done, a true masterpiece. it was the story, grown up, mature, a proper in depth film. Hulk 08 was just another kid pleasing hollywood adaption to what was already a perfect recipe for a better sequel. less dogs, more action and a just as in depth story. Thanks for all your comments!!!
I would like to thank, Deso, Jason Woolley, Sosman, tIH was quite far off from the original story line, and yes it is created for the younger youth of society.
One too boot does have a point though, Marvel is planning to make more movies involving the Hulk with ironman, captain america and thor;
it doesnt mean they should remake a movie ie “hulk” and totaly ‘Americanize’ the more so original storyline via comic books;
even so the “hulk” is compose from the U.S.A, what im trying to say is tIH, is devised from the outlook of the demanding adolscence interest, which they are desensitized from the ongoing televised programs that continue to progress : anger, greed, gluttony, ect; thus emitting the downfall of society who watch hollywood movies.
so my point is ‘Marvel’ should try to keep it with they own rudimentary foundations.
Now we all can hope for Ironman two, to be a success.
On comicvine.com, there’s a Hulk vs Incredible Hulk thread. These were my comments:
Ok, lets start by saying that I had been keen to see a follow up on Ang’s Hulk, but when I first heard that the Incredible Hulk ‘replaces’ the first Hulk, I thought why? Sure, it wasn’t fast paced action from the start, but character creation was required, just like in the first Spiderman, or Ironman.
All in all, I loved Eric Bana as Bruce. He was convincing as a mentally anguished scientist. Norton’s portrayal was weak, flimsy. Shame really as I think Ed is the better actor, but comparing the two in this role, I have to side with EB.
In support, again Hulk wins with Jennifer Conelly. Loved her in Dark City, and she outshined Liv in every way. Lets face it, Liv is only in the biz because of her mega star dad. She only does Liv, not really acting.
Again (wow, I’m really biased ain’t I), the Hulk wins with Sam Elliot as Thunderbolt Ross. The old meanie from Roadhouse convinces me that he takes no prisoners. I like Hurt, but hey, there just was no comparison. Hurt’s too nice.
And now for the enemy. I love both Nick Nolte and Tim Roth big time, but (and you get no points for guessing), Nolte was huge. Although both were believable, Nolte would have smashed the Abomination in to the ice age (as would have the Hulk against his ‘incredible’ carbon copy). Besides, this movie, Abomination was nothing like the original. He had the background of General Wade Eiling and the look of Doomsday, straight out of DC comics.
And as a final point, I liked the way Hulk looked in Ang’s version too. It’s impossible to get a 20ft green dude looking right in any event, but Ang’s (for me) looked much better.
Wow, I’m soooo glad to get that off my chest.
Both movies have pros and cons. For starters Norton was weak, Bana was better but Hugh Jackman would have been the ideal Bruce Banner.
Movie 2
+The acting was more entertaining and had good comic humor.
-There were no clear scenes were Banner was getting pissed and changing, — -The Hulk looked like a sinister villain.
+The CGI was obviously better
++the villain was superior, some very cool scenes.
Movie 1
+Hulk was better because he looked fierce, without all the veins and steroid looking musculature.
++Plus when he got mad he grew even bigger and that was fantastic!!
++Demonstrated more of Hulk’s range of pwers, e.g. running and jumping.
+And showed more range in emotion and personality.
-THe acting was slow at times, some forgivable due to the need for character development.
- -Nick Nolte’s voice sucked, I could hardly understand him. Some of the scenes with him were poorly executed. I thought the split screens were a nice compliment and actually helped convey scenes in more depth.
I agree, that it is good to know that others really like the Hulk.
The original HULK was like watching a comic book come to life on screen – awesome new style and for me it was the real hero of the film.
The HULK had depth and was an interesting film, I thought the casting was brilliant all round. The story was slow, but that was ok – it was a breath of fresh air to watch a superhero movie that didn’t ram action down your throat for the sake of it.
I would have loved to have seen a sequel and was so upset when they rebooted it for INCREDIBLE HULK: a film that had a good cast and CGI but poor character development, child like story and a lazy script which resulted in a mediocre film. The sad thing is Ed Norton (who was stripped of his creativeness during the film) has now been dumped and they are going to use someone else again. What a joke.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE fan of Ed Norton but Eric Bana nailed it for me.
As for the way the hulks looked in each film, I preferred the first film (unlike most people). I grew up watching the hulk cartoon so a cartoony green look works great for me! In INCREDIBLE HULK he just looked like a zombie.
I guess it comes down to this for me:
1st Film: Innovative, interesting, great cast, good storyline for a first film, good depth/character development, can watch it again.
2nd Film: Predictable, usual action blah blah, great cast, wouldn’t watch it again.
I’m not against reboots, it’s good to reboot films as bad as the embarrassing job Bryan Singer did with Superman Returns (don’t get me started), but I really don’t think this one was needed, HULK was a good start. As for copyrights/studio issues/etc – they could’ve just thrown money at it to buy out whatever and then do a sequel to get back the cash.
Are you guys retarted? the Hulk was too much talking and not enough action! the CGI was okay…. but the story sucked balls. Incredible hulk for the win
The 2003 Hulk was probably the worst Comic adaptation movie to date. With a bland story line and even blander acting left the god awful long movie with a bad taste in the mouth. The poor cinematics and akward camera choices/cutscences were just another wrench in the cogs that lent its hand in a overly complicated movie that really brought nothing out of the rich story that is presented in the comics. Its no wonder that Ang Lees Hulk did so poorly in the box offices and had fans of the Hulk riling a storm of protest. It was a dark day for comic fans everywhere when this movie hit the big screen.
I Liked the first hulk better,but the biggest problem with comic book adaptations is the writers and directors and designers do not know these characters as intimately as the millions of devoted fans that have accumulated since their creation.YES,Hulk 03 was more mental,and TIH was for the kids if anyone really wanted to make this a cashcow franchise,they would use the first hulk,Eric Bana and throw in some GOOD Avenger cameos with none stop rockem’ sockem’ action i think the movie would rival STAR WARS! But hey no one wants to front a hundred million to make a BILLION .
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